Guardian Cryptic 28,107 by Imogen

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28107.

A sparkling puzzle for these dark times from Imogen, with much humour, anchored by the pair of rather improbable quotes at 9A and 25A (which puts me in mind of an old competition in Punch, I think, which asked for identification of quotes including “O blood, blood, blood” “Dying, dying, dying” and “Boom-lay boom-lay boom”). I was particularly tickled by 27A. Thanks, Imogen.

ACROSS
1 TAMIL NADU Adult, one man’s transformed state (5,4)
An anagram (‘transformed’) of ‘adult’ plus I (‘one’) plus ‘man’. It’s in India.
6 TIMID Mousy girl college rejected (5)
A reversal (‘rejected’) of DI (‘girl’) plus MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ‘college’).
9 WORDS WORDS WORDS What Hamlet was reading: several worthless poets? (5,5,5)
Hamlet’s reply when Polonius asks him what he is reading (Act 2 Scene 2, leading up to the famous quote “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t”. The ‘poet’ is, of course WORDS[worth]. A fitting companion to 25A.
10 LENS Hutton’s eyepiece? (4)
LEN’S, a cryptic reference to Sir Leonard Hutton, famous England cricketer of a while back.
11 PROROGUE Urge poor to revolt and interrupt parliament (8)
An anagram (‘to revolt’) of ‘urge poor’.
14 AHA MOMENT An actor warning cast finally, when he twigs (3,6)
A charade of A HAM (an actor’) plus OMEN (‘warning’) plus T (‘casT finally’).
15 LATIN Endlessly rubbishing what Horace wrote (5)
[s]LATIN[g] (‘rubbishing’) ‘endlessly’ – both ends.
16 MUSED Contemplated minute and second hand (5)
A charade of M (‘minute’) and USED (‘second hand’).
18 DEDICATED Hard-working lower classes ordered to waste time (9)
A charade of D E (‘lower classes’) plus DIC[t]ATED (‘ordered’) minus a T (‘to waste time’).
20 RECOURSE Swear a second time to tour old resort (8)
An envelope (‘to tour’) of O (‘old’) in RE-CURSE (‘swear a second time’).
21 LACY Like a tie, or like some underwear? (4)
Double definition; all I could think of for the first was a shoelace tie, but Chambers gives shoe tie, a (fancy) shoelace.
25 BREAK BREAK BREAK Turn at snooker with rest, to interrupt Tennyson’s work (5,5,5)
Three definition of the word BREAK.
26 EMERY Abrasive gallery remembers revolutionary exhibits (5)
A hidden (‘exhibits’) reversed (‘revolutionary’) answer in ‘gallerY REMEmbers’.
27 TIGHT SPOT Tricky situation getting leggings to meet belly (5,4)
A charade of TIGHTS (‘leggings’) plus POT (‘belly’).
DOWN
1 TOWEL No one successfully throws this in drier (5)
A cryptic reference to “throwing in the towel”.
2 MIRANDA Girl married at island golf club (7)
A charade of M (‘married’) plus I (‘island’) plus R AND A (Royal and Ancient ‘golf club’ in St Andrews in Scotland).
3 LASH Strike and pound on wood (4)
A charade of L (‘pound’ Sterling) plus ASH (‘wood’).
4 ANON Soon chapter abandons one of its members (4)
[c]ANON (‘one of its members’) minus C (‘chapter’). ‘Abandons’ has to be read as retaining what is left after the C absconds. For canons as members of a chapter, see Wiki.
5 UNDERSTUDY Died: duty nurse being replaced by junior (10)
An anagram (‘being re-placed’) of D (‘died’) plus ‘duty nurse’.
6 TOWER BLOCK Where Anne Boleyn died, now modern flats (5,5)
I was pondering TOWER GREEN, the actual site of the execution, but it is just the TOWER of London, and the BLOCK on which Anne Boleyn was beheaded.
7 MR RIGHT Husband hopefully has power, owning two castles (2,5)
An envelope (‘owning’) of RR (‘two castles’, chess pieces) in MIGHT (‘power’).
8 DISCERNED Made out record brought in money, without advance (9)
A charade of DISC (‘record’) plus E[a]RNED (‘brought in money’) minus the A (‘without advance’).
12 COLD TURKEY Sudden withdrawal of post-Christmas sandwich? (4,6)
Double definition.
13 JEU D’ESPRIT Joke brings judge appalling disrepute (3,7)
A charade of J (‘judge’) plus EUDESPRIT, an anagram (‘appalling’) of ‘disrepute’.
14 ADMIRABLE Blamed IRA for explosion? Excellent (9)
An anagram (‘for explosion’) of ‘blamed IRA’.
17 SOCKEYE Fish very important in church (7)
A charade of SO (‘very’) plus CKEYE, an envelope (‘in’) of KEY (‘important’) in CE (‘church’). A kind of salmon.
19 TRADE UP Business is booming, so get something more expensive (5,2)
Definition and literal interpretation.
22 YAKUT Siberian beast of burden extremely unfit (5)
A charade of YAK (‘beast of burden’) plus UT (‘extremely UnfiT‘).
23 TANG Make leather with good smell (4)
A charade of TAN (‘make leather’) plus G (‘good’).
24 ABET Help with second letter, having misplaced the first (4)
BETA (‘second letter’ of the Greek alphabet) with the A moved to the front (”having misplaced the first’).

 

image of grid

68 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,107 by Imogen”

  1. I always expect a struggle with Imogen. This one eventually yielded all to me except LACY, which I still couldn’t parse after revealing it. Lots of clever clues, though, including TIGHT SPOT as mentioned in the blog. I also liked COLD TURKEY, although over here it would more likely be a post-Thanksgiving sandwich. Thanks to Imogen and PeterO.

  2. I found this puzzle challenging enough and very likeable. Lots of 14a AHA MOMENT(s)! I was lucky enough to get the literary quotes early on. After all the years that have elapsed since high school I feel fortunate that I can still recall quotes from Hamlet (9a WORDS WORDS WORDS) and Tennyson (25a BREAK BREAK BREAK). What a delightful play on words for the reference to Wordsworth in the former clue, and I always love a good triple definition as found in the latter. Isn’t PROROGUE (11a) a lovely word even though its meaning is about something quite disruptive?

    Thanks to Imogen and PeterO.

  3. Nothing too scholarly from Imogen today, a lovely gentle potter among the neurons. That said, the RandA escaped me, though I did think St Andrews as it’s about the only course I know. Also, dnk the Siberian, and jeu d’esprit, loi, took a bit to surface. Tinned sockeye was something of a summer standby staple in the young ginf’s household.

    Good fun, thanks PeterO and Imogen, and hang in there everyone.

  4. This puzzle was well worth working through simply for the joy of solving 14A, especially since by chance it was my last one in !

  5. There was this geography game we played as kids to make long car trips tolerable. On your go you had to name a place that begins with the same letter that the previous person’s place ended with: to play well you needed to know the Siberian cities Omsk, Irkutsk and YAKUTsk. Thanks to that, 22d was a piece of cake. Rest of puzzle was more challenging, but quite fun.

  6. I don’t always fare well with Imogen’s puzzles, but I thought that this one was a cracker and brightened up what bodes to be another otherwise featureless day.

    I think that one of my hobbies beckons to cheer me up.

    Best wishes to all.

  7. Thank you PeterO for parsing ABET and ANON: I could see the latter was (C)ANON but not how that emerged from the clue (even though I am one such member myself!). Otherwise this was all beautifully clear and most enjoyable. Much appreciated, Imogen.

  8. I said to MrsW before we started “Imogen’s puzzles are often dry” however this one was brut as in the best champagne and every bit as enjoyable as it slipped down a treat. I didn’t know the Tennyson work and figuring out the triple definition was a splendid 14a – another great clue along with PeterO’s favourite TIGHT SPOT – a lol moment. I didn’t parse ABET and loi was SOCKEYE. Thanks to Imogen for the vintage puzzle and to PeterO for the blog.

  9. Enjoyed this one – not Imogen at his toughest but some lovely clues. SOCKEYE was last in for me too.

    Thanks to Imogen and PeterO

  10. Are we in Uxbridge English Dictionary land with LACY (lace = tie, lacy = like a tie)? If so, rather unfortunate, considering TBT’s recent sad demise

  11. Another who often struggles with Imogen’s excellent offerings but this one yielded sooner than most.  (I expect classicists like Eileen will romp it!)

    Some cleverly crafted clues and, like Julie in Oz, some lovely AHA MOMENTs like the tricky JEU D’ESPRIT among others.

    Not having played Doc What’s game, had to look up YAKUT, and failed to properly parse [c]ANON which was neat.

    Many thanks for the very complete blog, PeterO and bravo, Imogen

    Stay safe, everyone.

  13. Thank you to Imogen for today’s fun.  Like WhiteKing @8, my LOI was SOCKEYE, though I wish it had been AHA MOMENT (my third to LOI); that would have raised a smile.  I’ve only vaguely heard of a sockeye, and needed my crossers there.  I couldn’t parse LACY, thank you to PeterO for that.  I love that piece of dialogue between Polonius and the prince.  It ends with another, more devastating, double repetition, that stops an audience’s laughter in its tracks…

    P: My honourable lord, I will most humbly take my leave of you.

    H: You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal… except my life, except my life, except my life.

  14. Shirl @10:  Dreadful admission but I completely missed TBT’s sad demise until your mention.  So glad you did – lovely man.

  15. Thanks Imogen and PeterO

    Great fun – all solved and parsed, very satisfying. Favourites were 9a and MIRANDA.

    I Googled Horace’s works to see if 15a was a specific reference (it wasn’t), and also the Tennyson.

  16. Thanksfor the blog, PeterO.

    I agree absolutely with WhiteKing’s first sentence.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, which kept me interested from beginning to end. My favourites have all been mentioned, apart from the little gem 4dn ANON and I also admired the anagram 11ac PROROGUE, for its fine surface.

    [We’ve played that game many times, too, Dr WhatsOn.]

    RIP TBT – lovely man, as William says.

    Many thanks to Imogen for a great start to the day.

  18. A lovely puzzle: hard work but got there in the end with lots of AHA MOMENTs along the way. LOI was SOCKEYE, which was a bit of a challenge. I aways enjoy Imogen’s offerings. Many thanks to PeterO also.

  21. Jolly good fun, this one. NHO that particular poem of Tennyson’s, but I liked the clue. I couldn’t parse ABET, but now see it’s a good one. LACY was very cleverly clued, too, I thought. Is UNDERSTUDY really “junior”? — I’m not convinced, but as the anagram was clear I can’t complain that it unfairly hindered the solution.

    Admirable explication from PeterO. Thank you.

  22. Nearly clicked ‘reveal’ on 14a but very glad I didn’t! Great puzzle. Favourite probably MR RIGHT – simple enough but unusual entry.

    I wonder if PROROGUE would have been so easy to spot were it not for the recent machinations of HMG.

  23. I need to say at the outset that I normally enjoy wrestling with Imogen’s works, and much of this was indeed fun. I got 9a and 25a early on, loved TOWER BLOCK and LATIN, sniggered at COLD TURKEY, TIGHT SPOT and LENS.
    Until, eventually, only 13d, 1a and 14a were left.
    Three cups of coffee and a choc biscuit later they were still refusing to co-operate. Eventually, having grown weary of hunting through legal terms for 13d (though absorpt looked promising for a while) I spotted the anagram. The thing is, JEU D’ESPRIT is three words, not two: 3,1,6 – or maybe 3,1-6 – and had it been written correctly I might have got there faster (I live in France). After that I realised 1a was also unlikely to be an English word – though thankfully it didn’t take as long to emerge from the mental gloop. And, like rodshaw, 14a was my last one in. Aha.
    Thanks to Imogen for entertainingly driving me spare, and to PeterO for the help in completing the parsing to 6a and 2d.

  24. As all readers of Hilary Mantel will know, Anne Boleyn didn’t actually die on a block.  She was beheaded with a sword while kneeling upright.  I would get out more but I’m not allowed to. Lovely puzzle, though.

  25. I too couldn’t get LACY. Nor the girl MIRANDA, as I couldn’t see AHA MOMENT either, appropriately enough. Forenames can always be almost anything/anybody, and difficult to fathom if the cluing is particularly cryptic. Apart these three, enjoyed the puzzle…

  26. bodycheetah @20:  Thanks for that but it may as well have been written in Swahili.  Are there any simple words in which to explain that to a thicko?

  27. Quite tractable for an Imogen, I thought.

    If you knew the two phrases, they must have been write-ins. I guessed the second after I got the first. I thought someone might comment about JEU D’ESPRIT. However, I think we are told to ignore punctuation in crosswords, so I’m happy with the enumeration.

    I ticked TIGHT SPOT, DISCERNED and SOCKEYE. I didn’t really get the ‘like a tie’ definition of LACY, but I see the Chambers Thesaurus gives lace = tie, so I guess that’s kosher enough.

    Thanks Imogen for an enjoyable solve and to PeterO for a good blog.

  28. I very much enjoyed this but had to look up a few things as I went along. Didn’t know TAMIL NADU or JEU DESPRIT. Loved MUSED;it was my 14a. Thanks Imogen and PeterO

  29. I thoroughly enjoyed this until I encountered 12d which I feel is unfair on two levels.  There is no indication it is a french/foreign phrase and the numeration should be (3,1,6).  Does no one else agree?  So a DNF for me, which is sad since it is a sparkling crossword on all other counts.  Anyway thanks Imogen and thanks PeterO for the comprehensive blog.

    Favourites were WORDS WORDS WORDS, BREAK BREAK BREAK and the delightful COLD TURKEY.

  30. A satisfying challenge which didn’t yield easily. SOCKEYE, JEU D’ESPRIT and AHA MOMENT took a bit of working out, as did the two triple word answers. LACY was my half-parsed last in, admittedly courtesy of an alphabet trawl – thanks for explaining the ‘tie’ bit.

    I liked MIRANDA, both for the clue and the poetry connection.

    Thanks to Imogen and PeterO

  32. Thanks Imogen and PeterO. Very enjoyable.

    Whenever a solution includes an apostrophe there are always complaints that the enumeration is wrong.

    So it’s probably worth repeating that Guardian policy is that apostrophes are ignored and the word is clued by the total number of letters.

  33. SPanza @29; see @27 and @32. JEU D’ESPRIT is in all the main British Dictionaries, including Collins, Oxford and Chambers, so I think it’s fair game.

  34. I winced when I saw today’s setter because I usually struggle with his puzzles but I romped through this and really enjoyed it.
    The brilliant AHA MOMENT was my LOI and was my COD. 2dn had to be MIRANDA but I couldn’t parse it. I did remember the Tennyson quote but I had to look up the Shakespeare. The wordplay made the answer easy to get though. Good fun!
    Thanks Imogen.

  35. As ACTOR as a word has become as hermaphrodite as Brian the Snail (I’ve been listening to Florence’s Sad Song to cheer me up) , I thought I was looking for one.

    Who could ever forget the cupid’s-bow mouth of the lovely ADA MOMENT as she swooned into the arms of Rudolph Valentino? Well, clearly I could. Let’s Google her.

    No, hang on a sec, it’s an H not a D you idiot! Thanks to PeterO and to Imogen for an H and a puzzle more lovely even than the ADA MOMENT of my imagination.

  36. I always feel slightly cheated when I’ve seen the answer but the definition is vague and I can’t parse the clue. In this case, Miranda and Break Break Break. The latter seemed so unlikely I couldn’t be bothered to google it.

  37. Simon, Robi and others: many thanks. I seem to have led a sheltered life as I never heard of JEU D’ESPIRIT and just imagined it to be a french phrase.  I have done some research and it does seem to be a borrowed phrase well used in English.  One lives and learns which is so good about our mutual pastime.

  38. Lots of fun. Thanks PeterO- I did not parse Miranda, nor, I’m afraid to say, Timid, completely forgettingvre MIT. LOI 14ac, a PDM and a fav.
    Thanks to Imogen

  39. A super crossword for these times.  I liked the two long ones most of all, especially the triple definition of ‘break’.

    Thanks to both Imogen and PeterO.

  40. Thanks to Imogen and PeterO.

    Just a bit too stodgy for my taste, what with TAMIL NADU (really?), SOCKEYE and YAKUT (at least I got that one) all being beyond my ken.  But we come to praise not to bury and AHA MOMENT, MR RIGHT and COLD TURKEY were worth the figurative entry fee.  Can’t understand the confusion about LACY, underwear may be lacy and a lace is a tie for shoes, so “like a tie” is lacy.  Shirl@10 doesn’t seem to buy this, so I’m probably missing something.

    [I take it that “TBT” is Tim Brooke-Taylor, in which case I am also saddened to hear – gave many a chuckle.  RIP]

  41. Re JEU D’ESPRIT  (SPanza @37 and others)

    It seems to be one of those phrases of French origin, adopted by English, but used to mean something that it rarely if ever means in France.

    I’d be interested to hear from Wellbeck and others (Cookie, I believe?) who live in Francophone countries – have they ever heard it used to mean joke/witticism?  I certainly haven’t, and a quick Google ‘recherche’ only turns up two meanings in French:

    (1) a literal game (jeu) involving mental skill;

    (2) something like the English ‘conceit’, in the sense of ‘ingenious idea/metaphor’

    We’ve had a few other examples in (fairly) recent crosswords: “en fête” meaning “dressed for a festivity”, and “salut” meaning “Cheers/your health!” – both of which appear in English dictionaries, but neither of which would be used that way in France.

    And the same goes of course for “double entendre”, “en suite”, and “crème de la crème”.

    A part ça, lovely crossword, thanks Imogen and PeterO.

  42. Thought this was an absolute cracker although coming from the DT back pager (+ their Toughie now & again) it was on another level of difficulty altogether. Was quite pleased to get within 4 clues of completion albeit with a high quota of bung ins. 6d was COTD for me.

  44. Alphalpha@40

    What’s wrong with Tamil Nadu?

    Solvers are expected to know the names of the states of the US, Australia and names of provinces of European nations.

    btw, it happens to be New Year’s Day there, just a coincidence. Sundar Pichai hails from from that state and and a lot of others. There is a lot to that state, culture and people. Population 67M+, bigger than many nations.

     

  45. Hello essexboy
    To be honest, no, I haven’t ever heard folk round this part of France using “jeu d’esprit” in the sense of a joke or a witticism. We’re in the south-west of the country and it is, of course, entirely possible it’s used in that sense with monotonous regularity in other French-speaking lands…
    I hadn’t realised apostrophes are irrelevant in crossword solutions – eh bien, je jamais!

  46. If one doesn’t know who Sundar Pichai is, please Google him! (Sorry, I know, it is a terrible joke!)

  48. Ok, I will have to ask…what is the relevance of ‘break’ and the Lord poet laureate??
    Ta

  50. I always wonder about the many one-letter abbreviations in crosswordland. Under what circumstances would one have occasion to abbreviate “advance” as A, for instance? It’s in Chambers, so I’m not quarreling with it — just curious.

    A DNF for me. I was defeated by 14ac (AHA MOMENT), which I should have gotten, and I guessed TOWER PLACE instead of TOWER BLOCK for 6dn. The latter clearly makes more sense; I just didn’t think of it.

     

  52. Loved the crossword. Gather the house rules ignore apostrophes, but why? Surely JEU D’ESPRIT enumerates as (3,1’6) which would be easy to print and make such solutions slightly more penetrable for mere mortals.

  53. My favourite was WORDS WORDS WORDS.  Clever linkage of poets.  Moderately challenging overall.  I couldn’t see LACY and had to reveal the L.

    The SOCKEYE clue seems ever so slightly out of date, given that Lent just finished 😉 .

    Thanks, Imogen and PeterO

  54. Hi. My first post here. Had to cheat for SOCKEYE (never heard of it and missed SO for ‘very’ and LACY. Must admit I parsed MIRANDA as Miranda from Shakespeare’s Tempest, who got married on the island where the play’s set, and Miranda (Google told me) is a golf course… but not a famous one. Shame.

  55. Phitonelly: thanks for the thanks re the Barber of Seville; glad you enjoyed it.

    If you want some more, I’d highly recommend Donizetti’s Don Pasquale.

     

  56. Welcome aboard Chris Lord; you’re not alone . So for very took me too long and if The Tempest got you to the right answer, all well and good!

  58. Markfieldpete @ 52

    Because that enumeration immediately reduces the possible letters to, off the top of my head, D or O and not much else.

    And by the same token, if something were enumerated n’1, then it would almost certainly be …n’t.

    If the convention is to ignore punctuation in clues, then the same should apply to solutions.

  59. Here’s a question for we sad ones with no twitter and alone at this time of night; why does a golf course have 18 holes? (The R and A is involved)

  61. Back after a bit of a break… Though I finished this, I wasn’t very happy with putting in LACY, thought I couldn’t see what else it could be. Thanks to PeterO for several parsings which eluded me (MIRANDA, DEDICATED, and the Wordsworthian subtlety of WORDSx3). As I’ve just embarked on ‘The Mirror and the Light’, I might raise a slight objection to TOWER BLOCK, since according to Hilary Mantel, Anne Boleyn was executed in a kneeling position, but without there being a block to support her head. Picky, picky.
    Thanks to Imogen for some pleasant recreation on a dull shut-in day.

  62. First time I have tried a Guardian cryptic on the day it was published – I usually do the Guardian Weekly one, so by the time I get to here, it is far too late to comment. Started late last night (seem to have a lot of time on my hands at the moment) and, to my delight, finished before midnight (here). Maybe I should try solving on the day of publication more often. Enjoyed this one very much. FOI LENS, LOI SOCKEYE – I found that hard. The worthless poet was fun – I had WORDS [something] WORDS for a while – and the PDM (after looking too long for an actor – AVA, but wasn’t she Gardiner? – satisfying. Thanks to setter, blogger and contributors – I always enjoy coming here for the comments when finished.

  63. I’m glad I’m not the only one who started off with TOWER GREEN, which also turns out to be more historically correct, though not the right answer here.
    Not as tough as Imogen’s usual fare, and very enjoyable.

  64. ilippu@44: I do take your point about TAMIL NADU and mine was less well made.  My problem was with the definition “state” – it’s rather like cluing “actor” and expecting the solver to come up with, say, Beerbohm Tree when a Victorian/Shakespearean/London reference might narrow the search.  There are many (many) states, not all of which are States, and I found the definition too skimpy to allow for any kind of deductive process to kick in – so the only possible basis for solution was GK; with all the crossers the usual processes might have led to the solution, but imho a clue should be capable of solution in it’s own right, cold – and this one wasn’t.  (On the other hand I’ve noticed that University Challenge nowadays piles on the questions relating to sub-continental/Asian geography and history so my bad for not catching up with GK trends.)

  65. Alphalpha@64
    Thanks. I accept your view. That when awareness of a particular piece of GK (states or anything else for that matter) is the only way to solve, (not much help from wordplay) it is frustrating. I often feel my inadequacy that way. Well, one can’t know everything, though I admire the collective knowledge-base and the brain power of expert solvers and the bloggers,here.

  67. Sadly I feel there is a technical error in 6d. Anne B was beheaded by a French swordsman (brought in specially by Henry V111 as an act of mercy) so no block was used.

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